Keyboard operated radio apparatus



Jan; 2s, 1941.n A A, GEDDE 2,229,920

KEYBOARD OPERATED RADIO APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1937 Patented Jan. 28,1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Andrew A. Gedde, Chicago, Ill.,

assigner to Seeburg Radio Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofIllinois Application October 4, 1937, Serial No. 167,262

2 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a radio apparatus having acabinet including a keyboard with a plurality of keys mounted thereonfor automatically selecting different radio stations, the control boardof the radio thus differing substantially from the usual type havingrotatable knobs which are rotatable on an axis at sub stantially rightangles to the control board.

A further object is to provide a radio apparatus in which a controlboard is provided and arranged at an angle between the vertical andhorizontal planes, preferably closer to the horizontal.

A further object is to provide a radio cabinet having a control boardarranged substantially horizontal so that the user, when operating theradio, can stand comfortably in front of it and readily observe thevarious stations designators without having to stoop in order to operatethe radio in a convenient manner and with a comfortable posture.

Another object is to provide a co-ntrol board for the operation of theapparatus in a radio cabinet having keys or similar operating elementsthereon, the cabinet being so arranged that a pull board can be providedto extend over the control board, thus covering it from view, or extendinto the cabinet, thus exposing the control board to View and making itaccessible for operation of the radio apparatus.

Still another object is to provide radio apparatus in which keys or thelike are provided for automatically switching from one frequency settingof the radio circuit to another in addition to a manually operable meansfor selecting stations over the range of the radio circuit, a switchbeing provided for changing from one type of operation to the other.`

Still a further object is to provide two separate illuminating means,one for the selecting keys and the other for the dial which indicatesthe position of the manual station selector, the respective illuminatingmeans being controlled by the switch which transfers from one type ofoperation to the other, thus indicating which type of operation theradio apparatus is set for and illuminating the station designator forthat operation only.

With these and other objects in View, my radio apparatus consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts there*of, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter morefully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

(Cl. 25d-Ml) Figure l is a perspective View of a keyboard operated radioembodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 2--2 of Figure 1illustrating internal details of construction and the relation of thekeyboard to the cabinet of the radio.

Figure 2a is a sectional View on the line iid-2a, of Figure 2.

Figure 3 is a view similar to a portion of Figure 2 showing one of thecontrol keys depressed.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 2 showingthe construction and mounting of one of the control keys.

Figure 5 is a plan View of the control board and the various controllingelements and the station designating dial appearing thereon.

Figure 6 is an electro diagrammatic view showing the essential featuresof the radio circuit as affected by my invention; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing a key of modied construction ascompared to the one shown in Figure 2.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference character C toindicate generally 'a radio cabinet. The cabinet C includes a keyboardK, which, it will be noted by referring to Figure l, is countersunk inthe forward upper corner of the radio cabinet C. The keyboard K ispreferably arranged at an angle between the horizontal and verticalplanes but closer to the horizontal. Accordingly, the control elementson the keyboard can readily be seen and op erated by an operatorstanding in front of the radio cabinet without the necessity of stoopingover to read the station designating means, as on a vertical controlboard as provided in the usual type of radio now on the market.

The keyboard K has spaced thereon` a piurality of keys lil. The keys Itare preferably of translucent material and pivotally mounted as 40 on arod H. The rod il extends longitudinally of the keyboard K and issuitably supported in a horizontal slot l2 of the supporting board I3for the keyboard K. The keyboard K itself may be molded of Bakelite orthe like and secured to 45 the supporting board it by screws it.

Each key it, as shown in Figure 4, has adjacent the pivot rod li a pairof inturned flanges I5. A station designating element it may be insertedslidably under the flanges lil and nor- 50 mally rests against anupwardly depressed portion I1 of the key. The station designatingelement Iii is accordingly removable and replaceablewith another one,depending on what station` the particular tuning element is tuned to.The ele- 55 ment I 6 is preferably of translucent or transparentmaterial having the call letters of the station printed thereon inopaque paint or the like.

Above the keys I I1 I provide a dial plate I8 with which a pointer I9coacts for designating selected stations in the ordinary manner. Thepointer I9 may be protected by a transparent cover 20.

The usual `tuning condenser of variable type for the condenser circuitof the radio is indicated at 2l. The condenser 2| may be controlled froma position on the keyboard K in any suitable manner. By way ofillustration I show' a control disc 22 projecting through a slot 23 inthe keyboard K. The disc 22 has a knurled periphery and is mounted forrotation on a shaft 24. By means of a drive pulley 25, driven pulley 26and belt 2, the shaft of the condenser 2l may be rotated by rotation o-fthe disc 22. Idler pulleys 28 are provided for the belt 2l so as toproperly direct the stretches ofthe belt toward the pulleys 25 and 26.

The pointer I9 is illustrated as being slidable in` a horizontallyarranged guideway 29. A finger 30 extends from the pointer and enters ahelical slot 2| in a drum 32 which rotates with the pulley 25 In thismanner an operative connection between the condenser 2l and the pointerI9 is provided so that the pointer at all times indicates the frequencyto Which the condenser 2I is tuned due to the different adjustedpositions thereof.

Each key Ill is adapted to control a tuning element such as presetcondensers 33, 33a, 33h, etc. These may be set for diiferent Wavechannels such as 550, 560, 570 kilocycles, and so on. Any circuitarrangement may be provided for controlling the respective condensers bythe respective keys I0. By way of illustration I showin Figure 6,switches 34, 34a, 34h, etc. for this Ipurpose.

Each switch (see Figure 3) has an actuator 35 slidably mounted in abracket 36. The actuator 35 is normally retained in raised position bya. spring 31. The actuator 35 carries a switch blade 38 Yadapted tocoact with a contact 39. Each of the switches referred to as 34, 34a,etc. in Figure 6, have the elements 38 and 39 as a part thereof.

A retainer plate 40 `has trunnions 42 for pivotally mounting the platerelativeto the bracket 36. A leaf spring 43 normally retains theretainer plate 40 engaged with the actuators 35 When any one of theactuators 35 is slid downwardly by depressing its respective key I0, theretainer plate 40 is swung against the bias of the spring 43 by a latchlug 44 of the lactuator until the plate snaps in behind the latch lugand thereby retains the depressed actuator in such position as shown inFigure 3. Subsequently another key depressed will release the plate 40and thereby the key previously depressed, and the second depressed keywill then be locked by the plate 40 in depressed position for renderingits respective tuning element or condenser 33 operable.

The condensers 33, 33a, etc. are shown as single condensers in Figure 6,although, as illustrated in Figure 2 there is usually a bank of threecondensers for each wave channel of a superheterodyne radio circuit.Likewise only one variable condenser 2l is illustrated in Figure 6,whereas there are usually three. For the purpose of disclosing mechanismfor selecting automatic operation by depression of the keys I0 or manualoperation by rotation of the disc 22, however, single condensers havebeen shown merely by way of illustration and to conserve space onthedrawing.

For selecting either manual or automatic operation I provide a switch S.The switch S selectively controls the condenser circuit of the radio sothat either the variable condenser 2| or the xed condensers 33, 33a,etc., are in the circuit. The switch S also controls an illuminatingmeans of selective variety for the dial I8 and the keys I0.

The illuminating means is shown as a pair of electric bulbs 45 and Theyare supported on a divider plate 41 so that when the bulb 45 isenergized only the keys I8 will be illuminated, while energization ofthe bulb 45 will cause illumination of only the dial I8. The dial I8 ofcourse is preferably translucent so that the indicia thereon will bereadily illuminated.

As shown in Figure 6, the switch S controls the current supply to thebulbs 45 and 45 so that when the switch is set for automatic control bythe keys Ill, the'bulb i5 is energized. When the switch is set formanual operation only the bulb 45 is energized. Thus I provide anautomatic means for illuminating only the station designating means inoperation as selected by the switch S.

In an effort to depart from the usual radio design wherein control knobsextend from the control board and are, to some extent, unsightly, I haveprovided the .neat arrangement of a keyboard as illustrated in mydrawing. Aside from the disc 22 and the switch S, other controls asillustrated may be mounted on the vboard in a similar manner. (Some ofthese are omitted from Figure l wherein the scale is considerablysmaller than in the other gures.) As a further means to provide a neatappearing instrument, I provide a pull board 43 adapted to cover thekeyboard K. The pull board 48-has a front molding 49 adapted to rest onthe keyboard and give to the front edge thereof a neater closedappearance when the pull board is in position covering the keyboard.

The pull board 48 extends through a slot 55 in the front wall 5I of theupper part of the cabinet C. Inside the cabinet, a recess 52 is adaptedlto receive the pull board 48 -when the front end thereof is raised andthe board'ispushed back into the recess 52. of the pull board is shownby dotted lines in lFigure 2. An enlargement 53 is formed alongthe inneredge of the pull board to limit its-outward movement relative to thewall 5I.

Although I have illustrated keys Ill for the i' purpose of depressingthe actuators 35, it is 'obvious that knobs 54 or the like may bemounted on the upper ends of the actuators, As shown in Figure 7, thuseliminating the necessity of providing separate keys and mountingstherefor, as

shown in Figure 2. I iind that the knobs or buttons 54 are also readilyadaptable for use in connection with the keyboard of the slanting typeillustrated. A change of the character shown in Figure 7 and others aswell may be made without departing from `tne real spirit of my inventionand it is, therefore, my intention to cover Icy-my claims, any modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may bereasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a radio apparatus, a cabinet including a keyboard, a series ofkeys and a manual tuning element mounted thereon for automatic andmanual tuning respectively of the radio appa- F ratus, a stationindicating means for said keys, a second station indicating means forsaid manual tuning element, illuminating means for each of saidindicating means, and a change-over means for changing from key tomanual or from manual lThe retracted-position to key tuning operationand simultaneously there with selectively operating the illuminatingmeans of the series of keys or of the manual tuning element, dependingon which is rendered operable by said change-over means.

2.v In a radio apparatus, -a cabinet including a keyboard, a series ofkeys and a manual tuning element mounted thereon for automatic andmanual tuning respectively of the radio apparatus, a

10 station indicating means for said keys, a second station indicatingmeans for said manual tuning element, illuminating means for each ofsaid indicating means, and a switch for changing from key to manual orfrom manual to key tuning operation and simultaneously therewithselectively operating the illuminating means of the series of keys or ofthe manual timing element, depending on which is rendered operable bysaid switch.

ANDREW A. GEDDE.

